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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Lorelai's interview with Shirel Levine, mother of Steven z"l for which
"Steven's Garden" in Tzfat is named, will air on Radio Free Nachlaot
Wednesday 6pm Israel time.

It's a short but sweet interview about how
losing her son Steven to cancer in 1996 inspired another tzadekis, Tamar
Bittleman of blessed memory to launch the project that would become
"Steven's Garden".

Shirel has, with the significant help of Wendy Kenin (who produced this segment for Mitzvah Media / RFN) launched an Indiegogo
fundraising campaign to help take care of a special place that has
meant so much to so many people over the last 18 years. Now that Tamar
is gone and can't keep up the garden herself, it's up to us to lend a
hand.

Some have called violence against women a national security issue and the numbers speak for themselves. In Israel and globally,
it has been estimated that 1 in 3 women experience sexual assault in
their lifetimes. In April, the White House announced a new initiative to
combat violence against women, stating that 1 in 5 women in college experience sexual assault in the USA.

Intimate partner violence is rampant everywhere. "Studies show that 20 to 30% of Jewish families in the US and Israel experience domestic violence," reports Shalom Bayit,
a domestic violence prevention and response center in the San Francisco
Bay Area. Now in its 22nd year, Shalom Bayit is known nationally for
its culturally-specific model and as a pioneer - as US federal policy to
prevent violence against women was only established in the 1990's.

This
year's keynote address at the Shalom Bayit annual gala, Creating Hope,
featured tremendous people sharing their stories. Renowned attorney and
author Joshua Safran - made famous by the film "Crime after Crime"
for freeing domestic violence victim Debbie Peagler from prison after
serving 19 years - offered some stories from his new autobiographical
book "Free Spirit."

Extra special at this event, Safran's mother Miriam
Reed presented from her perspective about what it was like to endure the
violence that her son describes in his book. You can watch a previous
reading from Reed's appearance at an October 2013 Shalom Bayit
fundraiser here.

Recordings from the Shalom Bayit event that will air on RFN's program include words from Julie Robbins, LSCW, Author Joshua Safran, Memoir Coach Miriam Reed and Shalom Bayit Executive Director Naomi Tucker.This broadcast is a special MITZVAH MEDIA PRODUCTION for Radio Free Nachlaot, produced by Wendy Kenin. Don't miss it!